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There wasn’t anything he could do now. He’d already muddled things up so much that he felt like he just needed to walk forward. Trying to turn Maisie down at this point and then talking Eleanor into going with him would be a lot of time and effort especially since he’d already not treated her well, and he was getting down to the wire. He could go from having two women ready to go with him to having none.
But honestly, having a date for the gala wasn’t the important thing.
He’d been a lot more let down than what he expected when Eleanor wasn’t interested in going anywhere else with him and had turned down his invitation to do something at some point. It was a broad invitation, on purpose, because he just wanted to get a yes out of her, but he hadn’t been successful.
He walked slowly, because he knew he was early. He’d left the office way before he needed to just because he was having trouble focusing.
He got his work finished but couldn’t think of anything else to do. Even though he knew there was plenty.
The sidewalks had been plowed, the Christmas lights hung on the streetlights, and people carried packages and steaming Styrofoam cups filled with coffee and hot chocolate. He could smell both on the air.
“Franklin!”
He turned, realizing he was almost at the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet.
Normally, he and Maisie were very, if not formal, reserved. But maybe it was because Maisie was so relieved about her sister, or maybe it was just the Christmas season, because instead of greeting him with a handshake or a head nod like she might normally do, she hurried to him and threw her arms around him.
He turned his face and realized if he hadn’t, her lips would have pressed against his. As it was, they hit his cheek. He was too surprised to do anything more than hug her back and wonder what in the world was going on.
He absentmindedly patted her back, thinking that just the night before he had been holding Eleanor. Eleanor felt different. Curvier maybe. A little less slender, but somehow she felt right. Where Maisie didn’t.
He stared off across the street, waiting for Maisie to pull back, not wanting to jerk away from her, as his instinct had wanted him to do.
As he did, his eyes suddenly focused on a woman who stared at him.
The woman wore a cheerful bright red coat and had a cream-colored beanie on her head. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes glowed, but as he watched, her smile faded.
Her eyes were on him. Maisie had started to pull back as he recognized the woman.
Eleanor.
Eleanor, of course. She was shopping in Chicago. This was a popular spot for tourists, and of course she was shopping here. He’d never even thought to ask, but it made sense. Total sense.
“Oh my goodness. You cannot believe how relieved I am. And how happy I am to not miss the gala. It was so hard for me to make that phone call. But you made it easy for me of course. You always do. You’re so understanding.” Maisie had backed up, but her hands had slid down his arms and her mitten hands had clasped his.
She squeezed his fingers now, and he jerked his eyes to her, realizing what she was saying and wondering what in the world he was going to say in return.
She’d kissed him. Hugged him, and now she was holding his hands. Eleanor had seen it all.
He hadn’t meant anything by it, but if he had seen some man do that to Eleanor, he would have assumed that there was more than friendship between them and would have crossed her off any list he might be keeping of eligible women.
Not that he kept such a list.
Actually, he did have a list. Eleanor was the only one on it.
“Thank you for meeting me. I had so many things I wanted to talk to you about, and a phone call just doesn’t work whenever you have things that you have to show people and say to them.” Maisie picked up the bag that she dropped in her excitement to meet him apparently.
“And I want you to see my dress. I was hoping that you would have a tie in your closet that would match it. I think that would look striking, don’t you? We talked about matching before, and we’ve just never been coordinated enough. But now that I have my dress, if you don’t think you have a tie, we can pick one up quickly. It’s a deep plum color, and I’m sure we’ll find a tie pretty easily.” She laughed. “It’s a popular color this year.”
He wanted green. He liked green. Deep velvet green.
Maisie chattered on, and he tried to pay attention. They ordered their drinks, waited for them to be served, and found a table by the window.
When he looked out, of course, Eleanor was gone.
Maisie pulled her dress out of the bag and held it up. “Don’t you just love this color?” she said with a big smile.
He tried to shake himself out of the funk he was in. Most of it having to do with the fact that he was pretty sure he had made the exact wrong decision. Yes, he and Maisie had been friends a lot longer than he and Eleanor, but with the clarity that comes from hindsight, he could see that Maisie had said she couldn’t go. He had found someone else to go with. Someone who had said yes. He was going with her and had made that commitment. Obviously, he could see quite clearly now that he should have stuck with his commitment to Eleanor. For him to ditch her or to have broken off their deal, since he didn’t feel like he exactly ditched her, in order to keep Maisie happy had been a mistake.
